3 SUREFIRE ways to INSPIRE your children

Whatever it is that you do, whether you’re a homemaker or career woman, artist or scientist, new mom or veteran, you need to ask yourself:

ARE YOU INSPIRING YOUR CHILDREN?

Take a breath and think about it for a few seconds.

Inspiration comes when we are stimulated by something or someone to do something creative, something magical, something that we HOPE we could do one day.

How do we stimulate our kids to be creative, dream big, and believe that they can do anything they put their hearts and minds to?

Do we make sure they do all their homework and become good students so that they grow up to have any career they want?

Do we put them into every music, art, and sport activity after school?

Do we let other teachers, celebrities and artists influence our kids more than we do?

A RESOUNDING NO, NO and NO.

The best way to inspire your children is for YOU TO BECOME INSPIRATIONAL.

You need to lead the way by being their best role model.

We all want the best for our children. We make sacrifices so they can play sports or do art in order for them to grow up to be the best people they can be. So they can be ahead in life.

These are all good intentions. Done out of love.

That’s what makes you an amazing mom.

But research has shown again and again, that children copy what they see their parents doing, rather than do what they’re told.

You can tell your children to dream big and do whatever they want in life, but unless they see you doing it for yourself, they’re not going to believe you.

Look, you don’t have to quit your job to chase your childhood dream of becoming a singer to inspire your children.

That’s not condoned, encouraged, or responsible.

But, you can start with these 3 surefire ways to inspire them.

BE HEALTHY

You can’t inspire your kids if you aren’t healthy. And you aren’t setting a good example for them either.

Remember this:

She who is healthy has a thousand dreams.

She who is sick has only one.

My Mantra for being Healthy:

Eat a little bit of a lot of different foods.

Move a little bit in a lot of different positions.

Think a little bit in a lot of different ways.

Basically, we don’t need to be perfect with our diet, exercise routine, or mindset.

But we should be open to eating a variety of different foods, participating in a variety of different movements, and be open-minded and generally positive.

Please stop encouraging your kids to eat greens, play sports, and think good thoughts if you aren’t doing it for yourself.

I have grown up detesting anything green on my plate and not surprisingly, so has my daughter. But I love my green drinks and smoothies, and not surprisingly, so does my daughter.

Our daughter goes to nature school (natureschoolniagara.com), so she pretty much acts like a monkey all day. And so do we . We are out there in the playground with her doing the monkey bars, playing tag, doing yoga in the dirt. We aren’t on the park bench talking to the other moms or playing with our phones.

If your children hear you say things like, “I can’t do that…” or “I’m so stressed” or even worse “I’m so stupid.” those phrases are way worse for them to hear than the occasional F Bomb.

When my daughter was 2 years old, she would always complain about how tired she was. I was very worried and wanted to take her to see the doctor. But then I came home from work one day, and I made my big sigh, and said, “Ugh. I’m sooo tired.” and she did the EXACT SAME THING.

That’s when I vowed to stop working long and late hours.

Because my 2-year-old has no business complaining about how tired she is.

2) GROW YOUR BRAIN

Are you participating in activities that grow your brain?

Basically, are you making time to engage in activities that will teach you how to improve your work or your hobbies? (Courses, workshops, YouTube videos, reading books, blogs, listening to PodCasts, etc)

If you are a homemaker, learn from other moms on how they organize their homes.

If you love painting, watch some YouTube videos on some new techniques.

If you love cooking, learn some new recipes on the web.

If you love your work, take some courses on how to be better at it.

The purpose of doing these courses isn’t to make more money or be the best there is at that thing. The purpose is just to learn and grow your brain.

I used to never do things that I wasn’t perfect at or inherently good at.

I loved to paint and draw, but because my work did not look like Picasso’s, I stopped doing it. Yet, I encouraged my daughter to be creative. Then I realized that she doesn’t know who Picasso is, and she thinks I’m perfect anyway. So I might as well paint with her because it’s fun to get our hands dirty and express our creativity together.

My mindset used to be very fixed and it did not allow much growth. And I missed out on many opportunities to grow as a person because of my failure to try things that I wasn’t naturally good at...

Good thing I’m not on my deathbed and can still grow my brain!!

If I didn’t change my mindset, my children will grow up thinking that when they become adults - FUN STOPS, GROWTH STOPS, and BEING AN ADULT SUCKS!

That’s soooo sad!!!! That’s not very inspirational, is it?

So make sure you grow your brain. Right now. Oh and if you can learn ways to grow your brain while you are MOVING YOUR WHOLE BODY, it makes your BRAIN GROW EXPONENTIALLY.

(By the way, your brain won’t grow exponentially in size; it just makes a billion more new connections within itself. So don’t worry about breaking your skull when you are doing a lot of learning. I promise you won’t!)

3) EXPLORE THE NEW WORLD

Nyla - The Explorer

This is maybe the most difficult thing that we can all do. Try new things. Things that make us uncomfortable. Things that we are uncertain of. Things that are a little bit scary.

Do you like to meet new people?

Do you like to try new activities?

Do you like to go to new places?

Do you like to eat new foods?

If you don’t like new experiences, then your children won’t either.

Think about the early explorers, sure they had their lives at stake when they took tiny boats to big oceans, but the ones that survived found the most beautiful lands, built new homes, and had inspiring lives (I think...My history knowledge is actually quite limited, but this is what I imagine.)

The plus side for you is that when you try new experiences, your life would not likely be at stake (unless you choose skydiving or something crazy like that..and even then...probably not).

You have an endless number of possibilities in the BRAVE NEW WORLD.

What could happen when you meet new people? You might not like them and they might not like you...So what? You don’t have to talk to them again if you don’t want to.

What happens if you try new activities? You might fail, you may not like it, or you may not be good at it… So what? You don’t have to do it again if you don’t want to.

What happens if you go to new places? You may not like it. So what? You don’t have to go back.

What’s the worst that could happen?

The worst that could happen is that you wouldn’t enjoy your experience, but at least you could say you tried.

BUT WHAT IF YOU DIED NOT TRYING NEW THINGS??

At your deathbed, will you wish that you had a richer and fuller life???

Maybe.

Probably.

WHAT’S THE BEST THAT COULD HAPPEN?

You find someone new to love.

You find a magical new place to visit.

You do something exciting that gets your blood pumping.

Your taste buds burst with new flavours.

You LIVE A RICH AND FULL LIFE.

Most importantly, YOU INSPIRE YOUR CHILDREN

Of the three things to do to inspire your children, EXPLORATION is the best way...

Because it shows that you are brave.

It shows that you are willing to try new things.

It shows that you are open to feeling uncomfortable, scared, nervous, but you will do it anyway.

IT SHOWS THAT YOU ARE AN INSPIRING MOM.

…..and they will grow up wanting to be inspirational just like you...

If you decide you want to be inspirational, make sure you show your kids the way.

Engage them in conversation. Be healthy as a family. Participate in new experiences with them. Family time could be exploration time. Family dinners could be new cuisines and new recipes. Family time could be playing outside.

The hardest thing to do, is to stop doing the things you are most comfortable doing. But it’s the most important. Because then you can grow. And then you can become inspirational.

So in 2018, I CHALLENGE YOU to become INSPIRATIONAL.

For the sake of your children.

For the sake of the next generation.

Come to the 'Nature School for Adults' Workshop. We will hike, play, explore, create and do a few things that will challenge us, but make as grow to be even better role models for our kids. Tentative date in May 7, 2018.

Comment below on how you inspire your children. Would love to learn more ways :)

Sincerely Always,

Nancy

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Nancy’s retreat was a game-changer for me. I learned that my fear of pain and injury was what was truly stopping me from living the healthy life that I wanted. Once I overcame that with the skills I gained from this weekend, the strength and confidence came easily. Now, I can keep up with my 4 kids without breaking a sweat! Thank you so much...”